Waterslide Down Oxford Street In Topshop’s In-Store VR Experience

The popular fashion retailer debuts a VR waterslide exhibit at flagship store in London.

When it comes to recognizing the branding and promotional possibilities virtual reality can provide, British multinational retailer Topshop is no novice. The infamous store chain has a history with the technology, having experimented with a ‘virtual catwalk’ back in 2014, streaming a 360-degree broadcast of the AW London Fashion Week show live to shoppers at its Oxford Street store.

Now it looks like that little taste of VR was enough to get them hooked. Topshop is once again using immersive technology to promote their brand and its latest offerings with a virtual water slide through the store.

Taking place May 25th to June 4th for free at Topshop’s flagship store on Oxford Street in London, SPLASH! is an adrenaline-fueled VR experience where riders waterslide through an accurate 3D rendition of the real Oxford Street into the actual store. You’ll weave through buildings, fly rapidly through the air at white-knuckle speeds and apparently experience some Topshop-themed goodies along the way.

Lucky visitors are in for more than just a ‘virtual’ ride however, seeing as the experience begins before the headset even goes on. Before participants are able to place on the Oculus Rift headset, they’ll need to climb the steps of the store’s own miniature water slide and choose their style of inflatable raft to sit on. Riders will also be able to share their adventure with an exclusive Topshop Snapchat Lens accessible within the vicinity of the O.G. store. I mean, if you’re going to make a waterslide simulator you might as well go all out.

Sheena Sauvaire, global marketing and communications director at Topshop, spoke more about the unique event: “Topshop Oxford Street has one of the most prominent store fronts in the world and we are excited to offer our consumers the opportunity to be part of it with an exhilarating VR experience. As VR technology continues to advance our desire was to blend it with retail theatre to create an immersive and shareable experience for our consumers, as a fun way to celebrate the start of summer.”

The Topshop Oxford Street location is diving head-first into their summer line with water slide themes prevalent not just in their virtual reality exhibit, but throughout the entirety of the store.

It’s always encouraging seeing major companies not only recognize and appreciate the value virtual and augmented reality have in regards to marketing and promotion, but take the time to fully commit to unique projects that make a genuine attempt towards something different. It’ll be really cool to see how Topshop follows up on this in the future.